Vinyl recording help

[chuckd]

Ok, so I recently purchased an AT-LP60xBT-USB which is not as good as the LP-120USB, which is out of my price range currently, but not a bad starter USB turntable for digitizing vinyl as opposed to the ION turntable I recently heaved in the dumpster.

Anyhow, I set my levels prior to recording to avoid any signal clipping with the dynamic range. Then I just drop the needle and record each side on the LP as one track. Then I open the large wave file in Wavepad Masters edition (fully Licensed) and separate the tracks at the silences that I insert between tracks. While doing this I have noticed that the vinyl tracks are very heavy on Bass frequencies resulting in a very unpleasant muddy sounding listen experience.

Has anyone encountered this problem and if so is there a way to remove the excessive bass in Wavepad or with a different setting on the turntable?

Any help from the profound knowledge pool on this forum would be incredibly appreciated.

Best,

Chuck

 

[MopTopMike]

I have no experience with USB turntables but I am wondering what type of cartridge is installed on your model? Are you able to replace it/ upgrade with a different model? I would think entry level usb tables have p- mount cartridges.
Anyway, I would go into the software and manually adjust the default settings accordingly to your liking by trial and error method.

 

[chuckd]

Ok, so far i went into the NCH Wavepad and used the EQ to fade all low frquencies between 24 Hz and and 193 HZ, Slightly lowered the middle range from 273 HZ to 3.1 KHZ and boosted everything else from 4.4 KHZ to 17.5 KHZ. This made a marked improvement on the muddy sound but I will still probably take your advice and try a P-Mount cartridge.

Thank you so much for your help!

Any other tricks wqould be greatly appreciated.
Chuck

 

[chuckd]

BTW....Why is a P-mount cartridge better?

 

[MopTopMike]

If a turntable uses a P-Mount cartridge (generally spreaking, not anywhere near as good as a standard mount cartridge sound-wise in the same price range) P-mount cartridges are just plug in types, they do not require a headshell to be mounted by screws as standard mount cartridges do. I would think USB tables are all p-mount cartridges. You can switch out p-mount cartridges to upgrade. However, I had an Garrard belt drive turntable many years ago that would only accept p-mount cartridges made by the original manufacturer. Sneaky desgin to ensure replacements could only be a sepecific model.

 

[bosshoss]

To clean up the muddy sound, try making some changes at the analog stage. Make sure the turntable is on a solid and very stable, well-grounded surface. Use a maple butcher's block mounted on subwoofer isolation feet as a cheap option. Also use isolation feet to support the turntable (cheap options shown below). Clean all contacts with Caig De-Oxit (cheap options shown). Make sure all screws are well-tightened (cartridge for example). An fo.Q turntable mat also works well and can be migrated to a new turntable if you upgrade in future.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/tiptoes/feet/
https://www.ebay.com/itm/174505471206?hash=item28a1562ce6:g:CwEAAOSwq39fouvu
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3831842269...otWP4roZKmU2L7oVBbcL9EXPZ+8=|tkp:BFBMhKnKwa5g

 

[chuckd]

Right now I'm unemployed while I nurse a revised complete Right knee arthroplasty so funds are tight but I would like suggestions for some top shelf equipment that I can purchase to do this the right way once cash starts flowing again.

 

[bosshoss]

Hi Chuck. Since you say "top shelf", but no price range, I'm going to assume you could spend around $20k for all new equipment. Less than that would be "mid-shelf" and I have no experience or advice in that category. But for a great system for vinyl transfers here's what I would consider ;

Turntable : Kuzma Stabi Reference
Arm - Kuzma 4-Point
Cartridge - Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250 (or Lyra Delos for a lower output option)
Phono preamp - OAD Ultrafidelity UP1
Cables - Whatever you need and can afford from Chord.co.uk
Headphones - many to choose from at around $1k - $2k
A/D converter - Black Lion Revolution 2x2
1 bottle HYPE or HYPEX contact enhancer.

With suitable headphones plugged into the Black Lion, you won't need speakers or amplifiers for vinyl transfers. You may also need a good equipment rack to optimize performance.

Used equiment is another option, but you are limited to what's available at any given time.